A new approach to the gas phase chemistry of ternary transition metal complexes: Ion-beam induced reactions

Abstract

High Energy Cs +-ion bombardment of glycerol containing a suitable transition metal chloride, an amino acid (A.A.) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) induces the formation of singly charged ternary complexes of the type [Cat(A.A. - H) (phen)] +, where Cat = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co or Ni. The investigation of the complexes is performed by MS/MS experiments using a four-sector instrument. Metastable decompositions of iron containing ternary complexes [Fe(A.A. - H) (phen)] + provide abundant fragment ions indicating the coordination of functionalized amino acid side chains. Fragmentation mechanisms and ion structures are discussed.